How it Works

What does a NOAA weather buoy 3000 miles away in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean have to do with snow in Utah, Colorado & Wyoming? Good question! Since the dawn of time, humans have been trying to plan their powder days, a futile feat… until now. Is it magic? Is it science? Is it dumb luck? The answer may be yes to all of the above, but more than anything, the Powderbuoy is all about a positive vibration and energy that connects soul riders around the world.

““Yeahbuuuuooooyyyyyy””

- William Jonathan Drayton Jr.

It All Starts With the Buoy

Deep in the North Pacific, a lonely NOAA buoy floats, diligently collecting all sorts of weather data. No friends on a powder day? This lonely buoy may think its only friends are the passing birds who may stop by for a few; little does the buoy know how much happiness and joy it brings to people around the world on powder days.

Weather Prediction

Tracking buoys is nothing new; surfers have followed buoys since Gary Busey was dropping in on Big Wednesday to find out when swells are going to hit specific breaks. The Powderbuoy uses these same NOAA buoys in Hawaii and tracks the same energy that surfers ride in waves in Hawaii to forecast snow that we ride in our mountains. When the buoy pops, two weeks later you’re going to want to clear your calendar.

Plan Your Powder Flu

Don’t let those sick days go to waste, plan your flu and go get you some! That TPS report can wait for another day, you’ve got powder to ski. Yeahbuoy!

Go to the Buoy Dashboard

From the Blog

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25
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How do I interpret the plume data (Blue line graph)?

The Atmospheric Sciences Department at the University of Utah is one of the best, if [...]

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From Instagram

This weather report is brought to you by the letter H, and by the worst SLC inversion I’ve seen since I moved to Utah 31 years ago. 🤮

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Dec 7

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This weather report is brought to you by the letter H, and by the worst SLC inversion I’ve seen since I moved to Utah 31 years ago. 🤮

This weather report is brought to you by the letter H, and by the worst SLC inversion I’ve seen since I moved to Utah 31 years ago. 🤮 ...

848 46

Waiting on a storm…. Reminds me of a great song by @bryonfriedman. Some small hope coming around the 9th, 13th and now 19/20th. High pressure is the name of this lame game, Canada still having all the fun for now. Check out freedog’s song in profile link

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Dec 5

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Waiting on a storm…. Reminds me of a great song by @bryonfriedman. Some small hope coming around the 9th, 13th and now 19/20th. High pressure is the name of this lame game, Canada still having all the fun for now. Check out freedog’s song in profile link

Waiting on a storm…. Reminds me of a great song by @bryonfriedman. Some small hope coming around the 9th, 13th and now 19/20th. High pressure is the name of this lame game, Canada still having all the fun for now. Check out freedog’s song in profile link ...

348 14

Wednesday was a pretty solid start to the season! Was hoping for some follow through on that storm but looks like we need to wait 2 weeks. Canada having all the fun this year so far, need the flow to drop down a few clicks to the south. Hurry up and wait.

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Nov 29

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Wednesday was a pretty solid start to the season! Was hoping for some follow through on that storm but looks like we need to wait 2 weeks. Canada having all the fun this year so far, need the flow to drop down a few clicks to the south. Hurry up and wait.

Wednesday was a pretty solid start to the season! Was hoping for some follow through on that storm but looks like we need to wait 2 weeks. Canada having all the fun this year so far, need the flow to drop down a few clicks to the south. Hurry up and wait. ...

1187 17

Buoypop! Dec 8/9 on the radar. Incoming storm this afternoon for a few days, not too shabby for pre-thanksgiving. Not sure if you’ve seen but all those storms I’ve mentioned going to AK and BC the past few months have filled things in really nicely up there. Not too shabby in the PNW either, Mt Baker looked pretty sick this past week too. Time for this jet stream to move into our general direction. #yeahbuoy

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Nov 25

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Buoypop! Dec 8/9 on the radar. Incoming storm this afternoon for a few days, not too shabby for pre-thanksgiving. Not sure if you’ve seen but all those storms I’ve mentioned going to AK and BC the past few months have filled things in really nicely up there. Not too shabby in the PNW either, Mt Baker looked pretty sick this past week too. Time for this jet stream to move into our general direction. #yeahbuoy

Buoypop! Dec 8/9 on the radar. Incoming storm this afternoon for a few days, not too shabby for pre-thanksgiving. Not sure if you’ve seen but all those storms I’ve mentioned going to AK and BC the past few months have filled things in really nicely up there. Not too shabby in the PNW either, Mt Baker looked pretty sick this past week too. Time for this jet stream to move into our general direction. #yeahbuoy ...

1304 9

Ramping up! Snow starting the 24th and lasting through the end of the month. Looks like we have a few buoypops lining up out in the waters NW of Kauai. We just came off a smaller but extended pop that ended on the 19th, which pulls us into the beginning of December. Upcoming buoypops look to be the 25th mini and a more sizable one on the 29th, so that keeps us in the game through mid December. Stay tuned for more on those. #yeahbuoy

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Nov 21

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Ramping up! Snow starting the 24th and lasting through the end of the month. Looks like we have a few buoypops lining up out in the waters NW of Kauai. We just came off a smaller but extended pop that ended on the 19th, which pulls us into the beginning of December. Upcoming buoypops look to be the 25th mini and a more sizable one on the 29th, so that keeps us in the game through mid December. Stay tuned for more on those. #yeahbuoy

Ramping up! Snow starting the 24th and lasting through the end of the month. Looks like we have a few buoypops lining up out in the waters NW of Kauai. We just came off a smaller but extended pop that ended on the 19th, which pulls us into the beginning of December. Upcoming buoypops look to be the 25th mini and a more sizable one on the 29th, so that keeps us in the game through mid December. Stay tuned for more on those. #yeahbuoy ...

1787 22

Something to be thankful for on the horizon. #yeahbuoy

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Nov 19

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Something to be thankful for on the horizon. #yeahbuoy

Something to be thankful for on the horizon. #yeahbuoy ...

1772 11

Hey now! Beginning of a multi-day buoypop and thanksgiving snow and birthday snow for me! A few storms lined up in the near-term on the 16th and 19th. Another multi-day buoypop looks to be on the horizon for the 20th+. Colorado has been having all the fun, tell your friends. #yeahbuoy #funwithstickers

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Nov 13

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Hey now! Beginning of a multi-day buoypop and thanksgiving snow and birthday snow for me! A few storms lined up in the near-term on the 16th and 19th. Another multi-day buoypop looks to be on the horizon for the 20th+. Colorado has been having all the fun, tell your friends. #yeahbuoy #funwithstickers

Hey now! Beginning of a multi-day buoypop and thanksgiving snow and birthday snow for me! A few storms lined up in the near-term on the 16th and 19th. Another multi-day buoypop looks to be on the horizon for the 20th+. Colorado has been having all the fun, tell your friends. #yeahbuoy #funwithstickers ...

1938 38

Lots of storms keep tracking across the pacific, it does look like they’ve started dropping lower than a few weeks ago. Some buoypops lined up through the 20th, which puts snow through the end of the month and into December. #yeahbuoy

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Nov 12

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Lots of storms keep tracking across the pacific, it does look like they’ve started dropping lower than a few weeks ago. Some buoypops lined up through the 20th, which puts snow through the end of the month and into December. #yeahbuoy

Lots of storms keep tracking across the pacific, it does look like they’ve started dropping lower than a few weeks ago. Some buoypops lined up through the 20th, which puts snow through the end of the month and into December. #yeahbuoy ...

1133 2

Not the desired outcome but a damn exciting game.

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Nov 10

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Not the desired outcome but a damn exciting game.

Not the desired outcome but a damn exciting game. ...

752 18

Looking mini buoypop like. Nov 21/22 on the radar, just in time for some opening day. Colorado has been having all the fun @silvertonmtn looking sick today. Hopefully the 21sr storm gets things pushing in our direction. #yeahbuoy

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Nov 8

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Looking mini buoypop like. Nov 21/22 on the radar, just in time for some opening day. Colorado has been having all the fun @silvertonmtn looking sick today. Hopefully the 21sr storm gets things pushing in our direction. #yeahbuoy

Looking mini buoypop like. Nov 21/22 on the radar, just in time for some opening day. Colorado has been having all the fun @silvertonmtn looking sick today. Hopefully the 21sr storm gets things pushing in our direction. #yeahbuoy ...

994 4

First off, get out and vote! Looking for something positive today, to ease the nerves? Next storm on the horizon, this was the very slight bump on the 1st, you can see that this storm is a bit all over the place, we may have another behind this on the 20th or so. All of these storms and the jet stream have been beaming north, and look to continue to do so, one after another for the next 10 days at least. It does seem like things may start to drop down soon. Looks like the buoy will sort of pop tomorrow into the 7th and then on the 12/13th, so add 12-14 days after those. Time to fire up the season. #yeahbuoy

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Nov 5

Open
First off, get out and vote! Looking for something positive today, to ease the nerves? Next storm on the horizon, this was the very slight bump on the 1st, you can see that this storm is a bit all over the place, we may have another behind this on the 20th or so. All of these storms and the jet stream have been beaming north, and look to continue to do so, one after another for the next 10 days at least. It does seem like things may start to drop down soon. Looks like the buoy will sort of pop tomorrow into the 7th and then on the 12/13th, so add 12-14 days after those. Time to fire up the season. #yeahbuoy

First off, get out and vote! Looking for something positive today, to ease the nerves? Next storm on the horizon, this was the very slight bump on the 1st, you can see that this storm is a bit all over the place, we may have another behind this on the 20th or so. All of these storms and the jet stream have been beaming north, and look to continue to do so, one after another for the next 10 days at least. It does seem like things may start to drop down soon. Looks like the buoy will sort of pop tomorrow into the 7th and then on the 12/13th, so add 12-14 days after those. Time to fire up the season. #yeahbuoy ...

1482 16

This is for Nov 7, I think we may see the buoy pop then. Lots of storms keep flying by to the north, if only these were just a bit more south, I’m guessing this will be good for BC who’s been on the short end of the stick for the last few seasons. I’m assuming Alaska has been getting hammered too. Two more mini storms into next week, but not much action on the buoy to speak of so far. #yeahbuoy

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Nov 1

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This is for Nov 7, I think we may see the buoy pop then. Lots of storms keep flying by to the north, if only these were just a bit more south, I’m guessing this will be good for BC who’s been on the short end of the stick for the last few seasons. I’m assuming Alaska has been getting hammered too. Two more mini storms into next week, but not much action on the buoy to speak of so far. #yeahbuoy

This is for Nov 7, I think we may see the buoy pop then. Lots of storms keep flying by to the north, if only these were just a bit more south, I’m guessing this will be good for BC who’s been on the short end of the stick for the last few seasons. I’m assuming Alaska has been getting hammered too. Two more mini storms into next week, but not much action on the buoy to speak of so far. #yeahbuoy ...

809 6

The buoy has been quiet may get a little jump up in a few days. Looks like most of the action has been stacking up further north BC, PNW, looks like AK as well. This is a forecast for swells on Nov 2nd, you can see the big boys starting in Japan and working across towards AK and BC.

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Oct 26

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The buoy has been quiet may get a little jump up in a few days. Looks like most of the action has been stacking up further north BC, PNW, looks like AK as well. This is a forecast for swells on Nov 2nd, you can see the big boys starting in Japan and working across towards AK and BC.

The buoy has been quiet may get a little jump up in a few days. Looks like most of the action has been stacking up further north BC, PNW, looks like AK as well. This is a forecast for swells on Nov 2nd, you can see the big boys starting in Japan and working across towards AK and BC. ...

817 15

Just heard the news of Phil’s passing. 📷 : Phil @ Park West 1983. May the four winds blow you safely home. 🌹 💀 ⚡️

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Oct 25

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Just heard the news of Phil’s passing. 📷 : Phil @ Park West 1983. May the four winds blow you safely home. 🌹 💀 ⚡️

Just heard the news of Phil’s passing. 📷 : Phil @ Park West 1983. May the four winds blow you safely home. 🌹 💀 ⚡️ ...

762 22

Aaaaand it’s gone. Sometimes this happens, you get what looks to be a fizzler, but on the bright side, wasn’t wrong on date, just not a producer. In cases like this I’ll look to see if Jackson or other resorts more north picked it up. Jackson looks to be getting a little more. The is all preseason stuff, just getting warmed up. #yeahbuoy

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Oct 19

Open
Aaaaand it’s gone. Sometimes this happens, you get what looks to be a fizzler, but on the bright side, wasn’t wrong on date, just not a producer. In cases like this I’ll look to see if Jackson or other resorts more north picked it up. Jackson looks to be getting a little more. The is all preseason stuff, just getting warmed up. #yeahbuoy

Aaaaand it’s gone. Sometimes this happens, you get what looks to be a fizzler, but on the bright side, wasn’t wrong on date, just not a producer. In cases like this I’ll look to see if Jackson or other resorts more north picked it up. Jackson looks to be getting a little more. The is all preseason stuff, just getting warmed up. #yeahbuoy ...

919 13